Pennsylvania re-elects Supreme Court justices, maintaining Democratic majority

Live results: 2025 Pennsylvania Supreme Court Election

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — All three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices who sought re-election Tuesday will get another term, ensuring the Democratic justices maintain their majority on the highest court in the presidential battleground state — one at the heart of pivotal battles over voting rights, redistricting and elections.

The outcome sets up the makeup of the seven-member court until the next presidential election in 2028. All three justices were elected as Democrats, and voters were deciding whether to expand the Democratic majority on the court. The refusal of the three could have plunged the court into a partisan impasse if the politically divided state government was unable to agree on temporary appointments to fill their positions.

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Judges Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht won new terms.

All three were running in so-called retention elections, in which voters are asked to vote “yes” or “no” on whether to give incumbent justices another term. They were not identified by the party on the ballot. The term is 10 years, although age limits can shorten the time you spend on the bench.

Their reelection expands the Democratic majority — currently 5-2 — on a court that has been at the center of pivotal battles over voting rights, redistricting and elections.

The court may be called again to settle partisan battles over election laws before next year’s midterm elections to determine the governor’s office and the majority in the US House of Representatives. Democrats need to win only three seats in the 2026 elections to control the House of Representatives.

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Traditionally, a retention campaign is an under-the-radar election. But in an era of increasingly polarized judicial elections, Republicans have mounted a late-night campaign to defeat the justices. Democrats organized a reelection campaign with their allies, receiving help from Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.

A defeat for all three would have left the bench in a partisan 2-2 tie for two years, including next year’s election.

In recent years, the court has made important decisions about voting and elections, necessitated in part by politically divided and often gridlocked state government.

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The justices in 2018 rejected a GOP-drawn map of Pennsylvania’s congressional districts as an unconstitutional gerrymander, and four years later, they again chose new boundaries after gridlock in government.

The court rejected GOP challenges to Pennsylvania’s expanded mail-in voting law, which became a focal point in Republican efforts to overturn President Donald Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The Republican justices dissented.

The justices have also issued rulings in cases involving abortion rights and public school funding.

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